'\" t
.\"     Title: ALTER TYPE
.\"    Author: The PostgreSQL Global Development Group
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets v1.75.2 <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 2011-12-01
.\"    Manual: PostgreSQL 9.1.2 Documentation
.\"    Source: PostgreSQL 9.1.2
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "ALTER TYPE" "7" "2011-12-01" "PostgreSQL 9.1.2" "PostgreSQL 9.1.2 Documentation"
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" * Define some portability stuff
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.\" http://bugs.debian.org/507673
.\" http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2009-02/msg00013.html
.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
.el       .ds Aq '
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" * set default formatting
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" disable hyphenation
.nh
.\" disable justification (adjust text to left margin only)
.ad l
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" * MAIN CONTENT STARTS HERE *
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.SH "NAME"
ALTER_TYPE \- change the definition of a type
.\" ALTER TYPE
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.sp
.nf
ALTER TYPE \fIname\fR \fIaction\fR [, \&.\&.\&. ]
ALTER TYPE \fIname\fR OWNER TO \fInew_owner\fR
ALTER TYPE \fIname\fR RENAME ATTRIBUTE \fIattribute_name\fR TO \fInew_attribute_name\fR
ALTER TYPE \fIname\fR RENAME TO \fInew_name\fR [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]
ALTER TYPE \fIname\fR SET SCHEMA \fInew_schema\fR
ALTER TYPE \fIname\fR ADD VALUE \fInew_enum_value\fR [ { BEFORE | AFTER } \fIexisting_enum_value\fR ]

where \fIaction\fR is one of:

    ADD ATTRIBUTE \fIattribute_name\fR \fIdata_type\fR [ COLLATE \fIcollation\fR ] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]
    DROP ATTRIBUTE [ IF EXISTS ] \fIattribute_name\fR [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]
    ALTER ATTRIBUTE \fIattribute_name\fR [ SET DATA ] TYPE \fIdata_type\fR [ COLLATE \fIcollation\fR ] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]
.fi
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP

ALTER TYPE
changes the definition of an existing type\&. There are several subforms:
.PP
ADD ATTRIBUTE
.RS 4
This form adds a new attribute to a composite type, using the same syntax as
CREATE TYPE (\fBCREATE_TYPE\fR(7))\&.
.RE
.PP
DROP ATTRIBUTE [ IF EXISTS ]
.RS 4
This form drops an attribute from a composite type\&. If
IF EXISTS
is specified and the attribute does not exist, no error is thrown\&. In this case a notice is issued instead\&.
.RE
.PP
SET DATA TYPE
.RS 4
This form changes the type of an attribute of a composite type\&.
.RE
.PP
OWNER
.RS 4
This form changes the owner of the type\&.
.RE
.PP
RENAME
.RS 4
This form changes the name of the type or the name of an individual attribute of a composite type\&.
.RE
.PP
SET SCHEMA
.RS 4
This form moves the type into another schema\&.
.RE
.PP
ADD VALUE [ BEFORE | AFTER ]
.RS 4
This form adds a new value to an enum type\&. If the new value\*(Aqs place in the enum\*(Aqs ordering is not specified using
BEFORE
or
AFTER, then the new item is placed at the end of the list of values\&.
.RE
.PP
CASCADE
.RS 4
Automatically propagate the operation to typed tables of the type being altered, and their descendants\&.
.RE
.PP
RESTRICT
.RS 4
Refuse the operation if the type being altered is the type of a typed table\&. This is the default\&.
.RE
.PP
The
ADD ATTRIBUTE,
DROP ATTRIBUTE, and
ALTER ATTRIBUTE
actions can be combined into a list of multiple alterations to apply in parallel\&. For example, it is possible to add several attributes and/or alter the type of several attributes in a single command\&.
.PP
You must own the type to use
ALTER TYPE\&. To change the schema of a type, you must also have
CREATE
privilege on the new schema\&. To alter the owner, you must also be a direct or indirect member of the new owning role, and that role must have
CREATE
privilege on the type\*(Aqs schema\&. (These restrictions enforce that altering the owner doesn\*(Aqt do anything you couldn\*(Aqt do by dropping and recreating the type\&. However, a superuser can alter ownership of any type anyway\&.)
.SH "PARAMETERS"
.PP
.PP
\fIname\fR
.RS 4
The name (possibly schema\-qualified) of an existing type to alter\&.
.RE
.PP
\fInew_name\fR
.RS 4
The new name for the type\&.
.RE
.PP
\fInew_owner\fR
.RS 4
The user name of the new owner of the type\&.
.RE
.PP
\fInew_schema\fR
.RS 4
The new schema for the type\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIattribute_name\fR
.RS 4
The name of the attribute to add, alter, or drop\&.
.RE
.PP
\fInew_attribute_name\fR
.RS 4
The new name of the attribute to be renamed\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIdata_type\fR
.RS 4
The data type of the attribute to add, or the new type of the attribute to alter\&.
.RE
.PP
\fInew_enum_value\fR
.RS 4
The new value to be added to an enum type\*(Aqs list of values\&. Like all enum literals, it needs to be quoted\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIexisting_enum_value\fR
.RS 4
The existing enum value that the new value should be added immediately before or after in the enum type\*(Aqs sort ordering\&. Like all enum literals, it needs to be quoted\&.
.RE
.SH "NOTES"
.PP

ALTER TYPE \&.\&.\&. ADD VALUE
(the form that adds a new value to an enum type) cannot be executed inside a transaction block\&.
.PP
Comparisons involving an added enum value will sometimes be slower than comparisons involving only original members of the enum type\&. This will usually only occur if
BEFORE
or
AFTER
is used to set the new value\*(Aqs sort position somewhere other than at the end of the list\&. However, sometimes it will happen even though the new value is added at the end (this occurs if the OID counter
\(lqwrapped around\(rq
since the original creation of the enum type)\&. The slowdown is usually insignificant; but if it matters, optimal performance can be regained by dropping and recreating the enum type, or by dumping and reloading the database\&.
.SH "EXAMPLES"
.PP
To rename a data type:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER TYPE electronic_mail RENAME TO email;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
To change the owner of the type
email
to
joe:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER TYPE email OWNER TO joe;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
To change the schema of the type
email
to
customers:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER TYPE email SET SCHEMA customers;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
To add a new attribute to a type:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER TYPE compfoo ADD ATTRIBUTE f3 int;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
To add a new value to an enum type in a particular sort position:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER TYPE colors ADD VALUE \*(Aqorange\*(Aq AFTER \*(Aqred\*(Aq;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.SH "COMPATIBILITY"
.PP
The variants to add and drop attributes are part of the SQL standard; the other variants are PostgreSQL extensions\&.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
CREATE TYPE (\fBCREATE_TYPE\fR(7)), DROP TYPE (\fBDROP_TYPE\fR(7))
